Splendor in the Grass

Set in 1927–1928 Kansas, oil wealth makes landowners and their families wealthy, shaping ambitions and social life. Deanie Loomis and Bud Stamper are a high school couple, each pulling toward different futures. Deanie's mother hovers over her, guiding her to stay 'good' by society's standards.

Bud is athletic and handsome, Deanie is sweet and idealistic, and they begin dating in school. Their romance is tempered by Bud's struggle to manage his stronger impulses and by the pressure of a wealthy, traditional upbringing. Deanie's mother continues to mold her sense of propriety as their relationship develops.

On New Year's Eve 1928, a messy encounter shifts their relationship and plunges Deanie into a deep mental funk. Bud wrestles with family dynamics—his reckless sister and his father's demand that he attend Yale. The incident marks the turning point that will separate their paths.

Bud's father pushes him to Yale before marriage, while Deanie resists, hinting that other boys might be available. Bud tells a friend that Deanie is open to dating others. He then has the long-awaited encounter with Juanita, complicating the couple's dynamic.

Deanie's struggle with the relationship leads to a dance that triggers a deep depression. She is hospitalized and later institutionalized for treatment. Bud, troubled by her condition, moves toward Yale but feels pulled between duty to his father and his own dreams.

At Yale, Bud fails all his classes and tries to redefine his life away from Kansas expectations. He befriends Angelina, a waitress at an Italian restaurant, and they form a friendship that hints at a new direction. His father remains determined, even visiting the dean to advocate for his son's future.

News arrives that the oil market is collapsing, and Bud's father refuses to cut losses. The financial ruin culminates when his father jumps from a hotel window, freeing Bud from his previous influence. Bud's Yale ordeal ends as he returns home.

Having escaped his father's control, Bud returns to Kansas. The end of his Yale chapter frees him to pursue a life of his choosing, far from the dean's office. The move marks a pivot toward independence and a redefinition of success.

Deanie spends more than two years in treatment, wrestling with family issues and her own psyche. Her parents visit, but she insists she needs continued care. While there, she meets a physician who asks for her hand in marriage, highlighting competing visions of love and control.

Two and a half years after entering treatment, Deanie goes home with friends in tow and drives to Bud's ranch despite her mother's wishes. She discovers Bud has started a family with Angelina and a modest life, revealing how much their paths have diverged.

Bud has brought Angelina to Kansas and started a family, living a lifestyle far poorer than his youth. He seems content pursuing his own dream rather than returning to the old life with Deanie. The scene establishes the new, tempered reality of his life.

Deanie meets Bud's family and accepts that their paths have diverged since high school. She tells Bud she will marry the man she met in treatment—the physician—emphasizing a future she has chosen.

Bud appears content with living his long-held dream, detached from the old life with Deanie. He accepts the new, simpler life, having achieved independence from his father's ambitions.

The film frames the lovers' journeys as a coming-of-age story and parallels Wordsworth's Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood. The parallel adds a reflective layer to the narrative.